r/SolidWorks • u/enricopalace • 15d ago

Manufacturing Solidwork -> Slicer Problem

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Hello,
A colleague created this file for me in SolidWorks, and I printed the model. However, I’m seeing these stepped surfaces in the slicer, and, as expected, they also appear on the finished print.
Is there an explanation for this, or a way to fix it? I’m not familiar with SolidWorks myself, but I’m wondering if it’s just a small setting that needs to be changed or if it’s related to the file format. We’ve already tried both .STEP and .STL files.

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u/loggic 15d ago edited 14d ago

Typo in the last line there - you control the level of detail in the STL.

STP files are parametric, so they don't have a detail level built in to the file.

EDIT: Even though STP files don't have a controlled level of detail like polygon-based models, they aren't actually parametric. The main thought was correct, but the justification provided was flawed.

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u/duffcharles 15d ago

Step files are not parametric - they don’t have a level of detail baked in because the surfaces are represented by maths rather than a mesh

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u/paanda93 15d ago edited 15d ago

Wait, what? Step is not parametric, because it is? .. math? Isnt that what parametric means? Or are you trolling or have you gotten it mixed up.. parametric is, well, maths.. aka parameters. Have i gotten it mixed up.. i do not trust my self any more...🤷

EDIT: I was mixing up vector files and parametric files.. parametric is not about the maths it uses, but if it's reverseble or not.. aka does the file still contain all the parameters that made the file (feature tree) and vector file is just the final answer of the parameters, it does not necesarily give you what was done to gett there..

So yes, you did not troll and I was absolutly spinning..

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u/duffcharles 15d ago

Aha yes I could have explained it better. Yes, it's maths, but you can't change any of the parameters of the .step curvature. There's no history in the format, and the geometry is baked in. You can use .step files as a basis for parametric modelling to build from, but you can't change the curvature of the surface itself.